Filling device for battery cells



Sept 20, l932- J. L.. wooDBRlDGE FILLING DEVICE FOR BATTERY CELLS FiledM ay 5. 1928 Patented Sept. 20, 1932 Y JOSEPH LESTER woonnmneni'orPHIIiAnELI'rIIA, PENNSYLVANIA FILLING DEVICE FOR BATTERY Applicationfiled May 5, 1928. Serial No. 275,287.

My invention relates to illing devices for storage battery cells and hasfor its object to provide a combined vent and iilling plug suitable forinsertion in the filling opening o a storage battery cell or similarliquid container by the useof which water can be added to the cell up toa certain maximum level, at which point no further flow of water intothe cell will occur and any surplus will overflow and can be transmittedto an adjacent cell for filling the same. Another object of theinvention is to provide a filling device of this nature which willprevent the liquid in the cell from mingling with the overflowing waterafter the cell is full but will keep the two entirely separate. Anotherobject is to permit gas to escape from the cell after' filling to theproper level without forcing out through the filling vent anyconsiderable quantity of liquid and to insure that any small .amount ofliquid which is thus forced out will be the pure water used for fillingunmixed with any of the acid or other liquid in the cell.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingin which Figure 1 is a cross sectional elevation of a A filling deviceembodying features of my inveition positioned in the cover of the cell,an

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the filling device taken on the line2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 1, A is the cover of a battery cell and B-B theside walls,- only the upper portion of these walls being shown. Thecover is sealed to the walls by means of sealing compound S located inthe o channel between the cover and the cell walls.

Other parts of the cell such as plates, separators, terminals posts,etc., have been omitted for the sake of clearness, as they are notessential parts of this invention. The filling device consists of a ventplug having a cylindrical barrel 1, provided with an internal cylindicalfilling passage 3, closed at the top by the cap portion 4. `IIearpthetopof the m barrel 1 are located two'horizontal ducts 5 and 6,'one -oneach side thereof, their inner ends communicating with the passage 3 andtheir outer ends open and arranged to receive the end of supply andoverflow pipes 7 and 8 f which may be flexible rubber tubing.

The barrel 1 is Vinserted in the opening of 55 the cover A and held inplace in the usual manner by interrupted screw threads 9 and 10, whichmay take the form of the so called bayonet lock. The barrel 1 is alsoprovided with a flange 11 extending over the upper 60 surface of thecover surrounding the opening, and a gasket 12 of compressible mate-`rial such as soft rubber is interposed between the flange 11 and the topof the cover, and when compressed by the locking effect of the screwthreads 9 and 10 will hermetically seal the barrel 1 into the opening ofthe cover.

The lower end of the passage 3 is closed by a cap 13 which is providedwith an upstanding rim 14 designed to encircle the lower end of thebarrel 11, fitting it closely on two sides as shown in Figure 2 butspaced a'way from it at two diametrically opposite points, thusproviding two spaces 15 between the rim 14 and the lower end of thebarrel 1. rIwo openings or notches 16 are shown in the lower edge of thebarrel 1, arranged to register with the openings 15 and thus provide afree passa-ge for liquid from the passage 3 through the openings 16 andthe spaces 15 into the interior of the cell. The tops of the notches 16are ata lower level than the top of the rim 14 so that when the openingsare filled with liquid, the gas in the upper part of the cell is trappedtherein. These provisions constitute .a dip seal or liquid seal element-.since thejlower edge of barrel 1 dips into the liquid contained in thecap 13. Located axiallyfwith respect to the barrel 1 is shown a venttub'el which as here shown is integral with'the cap 13 and Vwhose duct18 communicates below with the interior of the cell at a pointcorresponding with the maximum desired level ofthe liquid and at itsupper end opens into the passage Y 3 above the horizontal ducts 5 and6.,

The operation Vofthe device described above is as follows:

When it is desired to fill the cell by thel addition of water or anyother suitable liquid,

the liquid may be supplied through the tube 7 to the duct 5. It willflow down through the passage 3 and out through the openings 16 andspaces 15 overflowing the rim 14 and falling down into the cell. As theliquid flows into the cell, the air or gas which it displaces in theupper part of the cell will escapethrough the duct 18 and out throughthe horizontal duct -6 and the tubing 8 to the open air. This willcontinue until 'the liquid in the cell rises to the level of the loweropening of the duct 18. When this point is reached, the duct 18 will beclosed preventing further escape of air or gas from the cell. A slightincrease in the pressure of the trapped gas will prevent the furtherflow of liquid from the passage 3 into the cell since the arrangement ofthe openings 16 and the spaces 15, where the latter are filled to theheight of the rim 14, providea gas trap 'preventing gas from escapingback through these passages.

If the supply of liquid continues to be furnishedthrough the pipe 7, thesurplus filling the passage 3 will overflow through the duct 6 and ifanother adjacent cell provided with a similar filling device isconnected to the duct 6 by the tubing 8 as shown,l

the surplus liquid will Yfill the next cell to the proper level and anyfurther surplus will `flow out through the similar outlet duct tosucceedingcells in the series until allv have been filled. Any furthersurplus will then be discharged from the outlet duct of the last 1 cell.

lVhen the filling operation has been completed, gas may be developed inthe cell either due to local action or to charging current. This gaswill accumulate in the top of the cell until sufficient pressure hasbeen-developed to force the liquid back from the spaces 15 to a'levelbelow the top of the openings 16 when'tlie gas will pass out in the formof bubblesthrough the openings 16 and escape through the ducts 5 and 6and the tubing 7 and 8, eventually reaching the open air.

The amount of liquid which must be forced back in order to permit gas toescape is only that contained iin-the spaces 15 above the upper surfaceof the openings 16. By suitably proportioning the dimensions of thesespaces. this amount of liquid can be reduced to negligible proportions.If the cells are being filled with water, this surplus liquid thusforcedV out will always be water since there is no contact between thewater in the spces 15 andthe acid or other liquid in the ce It will beunderstood that modifications may be made in the device herein describedwithout departing fromrthe spirit of the invention. For example, thebarrel 1 and the cover A may be made integral. The cap 13 and the barrel1 are shown as two separate pieces fitted together but it may bepractical to make them in one piece or to divide them in any other wayfor convenience in manufacturing. 7

I claim:

1. In a filling device for a liquid container having a closure7 thecombination of a filling passage extending through the closure, an inletand an outlet duct with which said passagecommunicates at the top, aliquid seal element through which said passage communicates at thebottom with the interior of the container, and a duct communicating atits lower end with the interior of the container below the level of theliquid seal element and having at its upper end communication with theVexternal air.

2. In a filling device for a liquid container having a closure, thecombination of a filling passage extending through the closure, an inletand an outlet duct with which said passage communicates at the top, aliquid seal element having an overflow through:

which said passage communicates at the bottom with the interior of thecontainer, and a duct communicating at 1ts lower end with the interiorof the container below the level terminates, and a duct terminating inthe' container below the level of the liquid seal element overflow. l

4. In' combination a plurality of liquid containers having closures,afillingV device for each container having a filling passage and aninlet and an outlet duct with which said passage communicates at thetop, a liquid y' sea-l Velement having an overflow through which saidpassage communicates at the bottom with the interior of the container, aduct for each container communicating at its lower end with the interiorof the container below the level of theliquid seal element overflow, andmeans for conveying the overflow from the outlet duct at the top of onefilling device to the inlet duet of the next.

5. A filling device for battery cells comprising a hollow closureadaptedwtomextend into and out of the cell and having an inlet and anoutlet for the outwardly extending portion and having a liquid sealelement for passage, ducts provided near the closed end of the barrel, acap closing the lower end of said passage and provided with anupstanding rim encircling the lower end of the barrel and fitting itclosely at certain points and spaced away from it between said ointsproviding spaces, there being provi ed in the barrel openingscommunicating with said spaces, and a tube opening through and extendingbelow the cap and communicating with the interior of the barrel abovethe I rst mentioned ducts.

' the hollow portion of said body, an upward- 7 A filling device for a'liquid container said device comprising, a closure having an inlet ductpassing therethrough and terminating within the container above thenormal liquid level via an upturned outlet, in combination with a ductcommunicating at one end with the space outside of the cell and at theother end with the interior of the cell at the normal liquidlevel,whereby when the liquid level rises tothe normal point the gases in thecell are trapped and further iow or diffusion of liquid into the cellprevented.

8. A filling device for an enclosed liquid container, said devicecomprising a hollow body having a liquid inlet duct therein adjacent itstop and having an outlet duct therein adjacent its top for both liquidand gas, a liquid inlet and gas outlet passage in ly open liquid sealelement at the bottom of said passage,y and a duct for venting gas fromthe container communicating at its lower end with the interior of thecontainer below the liquid seal element and communicating at its upperend with said passage above said inlet and outlet ducts.

JSEPH LESTER VVOODBRIDGE.l

